weapon attack and damage

[Firetoad]

I am a 5th level Human Lawful Good Fighter in SoU.
Str. 17
Dex15
con13
intell 13
wis 10
cha 8
I wanted to do dual rapiers and then weapon master with rapiers.
I am wearing full plate so dex bonus is only +1.
The problem I have is damage numbers. When I dual weild the Baton of the Holy (+1 club) and a regular mace, my attack bonus is +7 and +6 respectively.
When I dual weild two regular rapiers, my bonuses are both +5. This makes no sense to me because I have ambidex, two weapon fighting, and a weapon focus in rapiers. So why do I get a better attack bonus with the club and mace?
Thanks

[T-D-C]

Thats because Rapiers are considered Medium weapons so your off hand will get a higher penalty.

This will be offset later on when your get improved two weapon fighting.

Other than that im not to sure whats going on.

[Stratos]

In the first, I assume you wield the mace in the off-hand. This is important since the mace is a small weapon, while the club is a medium one. Now, if you only equip the Baton of the Holy, your AB is +8, right? If you have the Baton in your main hand and the mace in your off-hand, and have both Ambidexterity and Two Weapon Fighting, you should have an AB of +6 for both hands. Since the Baton is a +1 weapon, this will leave your AB at +7 and +6.

Now, since rapiers are medium weapons as T-D-C pointed out, you get a -4 penalty to BOTH attacks leaving you at a AB of +4. But you also have Weapon Focus: Rapiers which will give you +1 to your attacks, leaving you at +5 for both attacks. And there you have your explanation. [img]smile.gif[/img]

A final note, Improved Two Weapon Fighting doesn't offset the penalty you get for wielding a rapier in your off hand, but you get an extra attack.

[Firetoad]

I'm sorry I forgot to mention this-
I thought I read somewhere that the rapier is the only medium size weapon that can be weilded in the off hand and is treated as a small weapon. Do any of you guys remember reading that or hearing of it?

I don't think it was in the paper manual, but I know I read it somewhere I thought I could trust!

[ 11-26-2004, 11:53 PM: Message edited by: Firetoad ]

[Stratos]

The rapier is the only medium size weapon that is finessable with the Weapon Finesse feat. When it comes to dual-wielding, it's still a medium sized weapon like any other and penalties will still apply if you equip one in your off-hand.

If you want to dual-wield rapiers, you simply have to live with the -2 penalty to each attack. It really isn't that much considering the extra attacks you get while fighting with two weapons.

[ 11-28-2004, 07:02 AM: Message edited by: Stratos ]